11th Annual Downtown Truckee Wine Walk and Shop

This Saturday in downtown Truckee is one of the Fall seasons most anticipated events; The Downtown Truckee Wine, Walk & Shop. With the fresh air, sun shining and nice weather continuing through this weekend, it is going to be the perfect time for a stroll in old town Truckee. Start the day off and pick up your commemorative wine glass, food tickets and map. From there, begin your search for your favorite wine offered at more than 30 venues. At select locations a food pairing is offered. With admission you will receive 5 food tickets but you can always purchase more for $2 per ticket. Try them all, in the past they have all been delicious!

Each year Truckee Wine Walk and Shop has partnered with a local non-profit organization. This year Tahoe Food Hub has been chosen as the recipient. The Tahoe Food Hub is a non-profit organization that is building a regional food systems which will increase the availability of nutritious, ecologically grown food by connoting small-scale, regional, food producers with new markets such as restaurants, small grocers, schools and hospitals.

With all that delicious wine offered, have fun and enjoy but be sure to take advantage of the FREE cab rides during and after the event or purchase some "sober driver tickets" for $10/each that will include non-alcoholic choices for your designated driver. Be safe and I’ll see you out on the town this Saturday!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Truckee River Legacy Trail Get Out And Explore

The Truckee River Legacy Trail is a paved path that follows the Truckee River from Regional Park in Truckee to the Glenshire community. This trail is a true gift to our community and future generations. A great place for all types of outdoor recreation. Grab your walking, running or biking shoes and check it out!

Recently finished was phase 3 of this 5 phase project stretching the path to meet Glenshire Drive, about 5 miles East of the start. Phase 4 and 5 will take the trail in the other direction making it all the way to Donner Lake.

Running, walking or strolling are enjoyed by many every day. The relatively flat 5 mile path offers an easy access for all. Take a walk with endless views of the Truckee River. Stop at the interpretive plaques along the way to learn about local plants, wildlife and history. Need a break? Enjoy the view of the Sierra Crest, river and open landscape on one of the many perfectly placed benches along the way. Bring the stroller, a great spot for some fresh air, the sound of the river and wildlife all around. Go as long or as short as you want. Every bit is worth it!

With the path connecting two great recreation areas, bring the whole family for a park exploration adventure. Start at Regional park where you will find swings, slides, baseball, volleyball, basketball, tennis, freebee golf, skateboard park, amphitheater and an amazing BBQ facility right on the river. After hitting all the fun there, head East on the Truckee River Legacy Trail for about 2 miles and you will find yourself at another park, Riverview Sports Park. I hope you brought your bike for the pump track and BMX track! Also find more sports fields for soccer, football and baseball along with bocce ball courts, a modern playground and a covered picnic shelter. The fun will never end!

Bikes of all shapes and sizes enjoy this pristine, paved, class 1 path. For road bikers, this is a new safe connection between town, Glenshire community and Boca/Stampede recreation area. For commuters, easy bike access to parks and town. For families, a safe place for all ages learning, practicing or playing on their bikes.

We love our Truckee Legacy Trail and can’t wait to see more! In the mean time, get out there and enjoy all that this Truckee River treasure has to offer!

Thursday, September 18, 2014

7231 Larkspur Court

Village Walk #9

Village at Northstar

$1,895,000

4 BR / 4.5 BA / 2640 SF

Presenting the most private and desirable residence within the gated Village Walk community at Northstar. At Village Walk, you experience the best of all a mountain retreat has to offer. Enjoy the peaceful feeling of being surrounded by the trees and the spacious living of a single family home. The close proximity to the Village at Northstar allows easy access to the ski slopes, trails, shops, restaurants, and loads of activities all year round. Walk right in, light up the fire, and you are home!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Winter Film Premiers

The weather is changing, the days are getting shorter and the leaves are starting to change from green to orange, yellow and red. Can you feel it? Winter is coming and we are all getting excited for the skiing and snowboarding in Tahoe! Nothing gets you more pumped up for the snow than attending the premier for one of the newest ski and snowboard films. With the energy of the winter loving crowd around you, the pearly white snow on the screen in front of you and the pro athletes mingling through the crowd, signing autographs and posing for photos, a smile is sure to show on your face. There are so many to choose from and worth seeing as many as you can. Below are my top picks for Truckee and San Francisco.

No Turning BackProducer: Warren MillerThis is the 65th Warren Miller film. The Warren Miller films always have a little something for everyone including skiing and snowboarding, backcountry and resort, and a bit of history as the films dig into the archive for some creative flashbacks.

Where: Palace of Fine Arts Theatre - San FranciscoWhen: Wednesday 11/5/14 8:00pm and Thursday 11/6/14 8pmClick here for more on Warren MillerDays of My YouthProducer: Matchstick ProductionsThe Matchstick movies mainly focus on skiing but sometimes will have a snowboard sneak in. Always featuring an all-star cast, I always favor this movie because you can see Squaw Valley locals like Cody Townsend and Michelle Parker. With every ticket you will get a two-for-one lift ticket to Squaw/Alpine - bonus!

This is the last installment of a trilogy of Deeper, Further, Higher from pro snowboarder, Jeremy Jones. The wold premier at Squaw Valley was on September 9th with a record crowd showing up to watch under the iconic KT-22 chairlift. This film will leave you with your mouth wide open and your head spinning. You don’t have to see the first two to jump right into this one but all three are truly a work of art showcasing Jone’s love for the mountains and how one man can push the limits of humanity.

Where: Palace of Fine Arts Theatre; San FranciscoWhen: Wednesday 9/24/14 6:30pm and 9:30pmPretty FacesProducer: Unicorn Picnic ProductionsI am really excited about this one because it is the first all female ski film. The film showcases professional and recreational skiers. Just wait till you see what these woman can do skis! This is sure to inspire girls, woman and athletes of all ages! I can't wait!

Where: Brava Theatre; San Francisco, CAClick here For information on Tickets.When: Saturday 10/25/14 6:30pmDefenders of Awesome 2: Stay BadassProducer: Capita The Capita crew is a wild one. This year the film will be held at Woodward Tahoe located in the Boreal parking lot. If you haven't been to see this place yet, you have to go. It's a gigantic warehouse filled with foam pits, trampolines, a skateboard park and a pump track. It will be interesting to see how they will set a snowboard movie but I am sure it will be a good party and the raffle is always packed with rad winter gear.

Where: Woodward Tahoe; BorealWhen: Saturday 11/1/14LessProducer: Level 1For an intimate setting head to the Moment Ski Factory in Reno, NV to check this new film out. This creative movie features a funny guy cast - be there and get ready for some laughs!

Monday, September 8, 2014

Week 12: Watson Lake to HWY 267

This week we had Martha Kreig join us for this very special run that is dedicated to her son, Max Kreig who lost his life at the age of 5. With Martha comes many girlfriends who love and support her every day as running buddies. So, for this run, she brought Katie Benty and Jenny Wilson, and we also were joined by Laura Brown, Executive Director of Excellence in Education! So, we had 4 guest runners this week! We're ready to have some fun out on the trail.

We all gathered at the end of the trail (6 cars, 2 dogs and 6 women) ready to run. Luckily Jenny had a car that could hold all us all so we only had to take one car to Watson Lake where our run would begin. After getting aquatinted in the car… it took Jenny some time to sort out 3 different Katie's… We made it to Watson Lake.

It was a perfect day to be out on the trail running with bright blue skies and the sun just warming up. We all start off around the trail that skirts around Watson Lake before turning right into the woods. We all kept a good pace line for the first couple of miles with one stop to take it all in. Lots of chatting!

Through the first golden meadow filled with crispy mule ears we find a Tahoe Rim Trail trail crew. We are lucky for the volunteers that keep this trail in good shape for our enjoyment. They all got 6 'thank you's' as we trotted by.

As we hit mile 3 and 4 the trail began to go up and Katie T kept pace with Martha and Laura in the front as Katie C was dragging behind today and Katie B and Jenny held back to keep her moving. The trail kept inching up and up as we keep wrapping around Lake Tahoe and we all are chugging along. Then we get to a break in the trees and we see an amazing view of Big Blue way down below.

A bit further and we are looking off to Diamond Peak ski resort where we will be heading to in the next couple of weeks. Wow, that looks far away now.

The trail crosses the Fibreboard Freeway and then we have a very steep but short pitch before it's all downhill to the car. For the whole downhill you can see Lake Tahoe in the distance to the right across skeletal trees towering over beds of manzanita bushes. The Tahoe National Forest has so much beauty to be enjoyed!

And there we are, we made it! 6 miles, 6 girls and 600 feet climbed!

Hugs all around to remember the fun loving, charismatic, thoughtful, funny, smart, loving boy Max. We love you so much and think about you every day.

We will proudly be sending a check to Excellence in Education in celebration of another section completed! Thank you for making the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District better with classroom enhancements, teacher awards and training, specialized programs to help grade level literacy and much, much more! We appreciate all that you contribute to our children.

Next section we will be running for a very dear person to us, and Truckee's animals and humans alike, Dr. Brooks Bloomfield. Meeting someone like Brooks is a very rare occurrence, he has such a big heart and kind soul-his connection with the animals he treats (our pets!) is so evident and his compassion and caring attitude is refreshing in a time where sometimes people seem like they are on auto-pilot. Brooks has been diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and at this time there is no known cure. Brooks treated my dear dog Jasper (Weimaraner) through an aging disease, and gave us his constant care, attention, love, and nightly emails to see how Jasper was doing, all while he was battling MSA and having serious personal struggles. It amazes me to this day that he cared so much about what we (and Jasper) were going through when he had so much pain and discomfort to deal with. That's just who Brooks is, though, thinking about others before himself.

Click here to read this touching article about Brooks, his dear family and MSA.

We will be sending a donation to The MSA Coalition to further support, education, research and advocacy for this rare disease.

Truckee Tahoe Market Update

September 2014

Consistency from the market is typically a good thing, and that’s what we’ve seen from the market so far this year. In August, as with all of 2014, the luxury segment has been the principle market driver helping to pull up average and median prices, while overall volume lags behind 2013 levels.

August 2014 saw 139 home sales, a sensational number by any measure except August 2013, which posted 160. The average sale price in August leapt by 18% over the same month in 2013, from $770,483 to $913,235. This number moderates to $844,490 when a $10,000,000 lakefront sale located on the California / Nevada border is taken out. (Note: this home is technically on the NV side; Nevada properties are not otherwise accounted for in this report). Median price showed a more steady 2% increase over the same period last year to $510,000.

In total, 27 homes closed at or above $1,000,000 compared to just 15 last August showing further evidence of the surging luxury sector. Proportionately, 14 homes sold above $2,000,000 compared to 7 in 2013. Differing from 2013 is the composition of these luxury sales. Previously, the mix of lakeside versus resort properties was about 50/50. In the most recent month, beyond the eight-figure sale referenced above, eight of the next nine most-expensive home sales were within resort communities.

Notably:

· A $5,850,000 sale in Lahontan. This property spread over two homesites totals 6,776 square feet and represents the highest amount ever captured in Lahontan. This could be a short-lived title however, as Tahoe Mountain Resorts currently offers a magnificent Lahontan home for $5,899,000.

· Six homes in Martis Camp closed escrow in August ranging from $3,200,000 - $4,995,000. The average price per foot for the six was a steady $1,000.

· Additional luxury sales were recorded in Northstar, Old Greenwood, Pine Forest, Squaw Valley and Tahoe Donner in addition to various lakeside neighborhoods.

Interestingly, we are also seeing the waves of 2013 land sales turn into a tsunami of 2014 construction starts, with nearly 200 new custom homes between Martis 25, Gray’s Crossing, Lahontan, Schaffer’s Mill and Martis Camp. This construction surge is driving up commodities and labor costs in building. The likely result is that the market will see a temporary pause in the velocity of land sales in some of these communities.

The exception again is the luxury market (including communities like Martis Camp and Martis 25) where land should sell well as the desire to create a custom property, specific to a family’s need offers long-term lifestyle enhancements that are of greater value than near-term equity. These are largely consumers who are purchasing to enjoy the lifestyle afforded to their families by having a custom mountain retreat. Thus, the beauty of living in Lake Tahoe.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Week 11: Tahoe City to Watson Lake

Off on the trail again for a new adventure! Lucky for us our shuttle driver, Katie C.'s mom, Ann, is available to drive us to our end point at Watson Lake located on Brockway Summit and then to Tahoe City where we left the trail a couple weeks ago.

There we were across from the Baptist Church in Tahoe City with the trail ahead of us heading straight up. With some quick elevation we were rewarded with an expansive view of Lake Tahoe. On this bluff was a sculpture of memories, rocks, sticks, dog tags and small treasures. We decide we should contribute. We each found a unique rock, said a little thank you to our surroundings as we stood on the top of the Thunder Cliff band then added them to the momentous pile.

From here we turned the corner and started following the path of the Truckee River. The views started off looking back towards Twin Peaks were were had been a couple of weeks ago. It looked so far away now.

From here we were in and out of the thick forest on a very windy trail that was slithering up till finally we pop out on top of a bluff that looked out over acres and acres of forest and Lake Tahoe. Although nothing like some of the peaks we climbed on the South side of of the Lake, this must be Watson Peak! … Nope. We turn the corner to see another towering peak ahead of us. Although we will never make it to the top of that one, the elevation gain is not over yet!

A bit farther along and we were looking over at the large piece of land known as Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts. We could see High Camp at Squaw Valley all the way to the top of Summit chair at Alpine Meadows from where we stood at rocky perch high above the HWY 89 corridor. It all seemed so large and grand.

We turn the corner around the mountain. On the left we are looking down at miles and miles of forest land towards the Truckee area. Straight ahead is the 'real' Watson Peak and to the right is Lake Tahoe in the distance and the super fun downhill section of the trail heading down towards Mt. Watson Road. We cross the road and as the trail starts again there is the sign letting us know that we are still 5 miles away from our destination of Watson Lake.

At this point we are on a remarkable trail hugging the mountain to the left of us with endless views of Lake Tahoe on our right. It's hard to keep your eyes on the trail when the views are so jaw dropping. But we do in order not to sprain our ankles.

Then there's our turn. A split in the trail takes us straight up again. At this point we are still chugging a long but the pace is slowing as the climb grows steeper. Of course with a steep climb comes great rewards. There it is, Big Blue views again staring right back at us! Thank you TRT for putting us in this gorgeous place today.

At this point we realize that we are not making it to the top of Watson Peak but we are getting close to Watson Lake where the car is parked!

Around the corner and on the other side of the mountain is Watson Lake. We made it! A little murky to be jumping in, we decide to just take in the view, a good stretch, and off to work for the day.

Checking our stats for the day we have done 14 miles with 2,115 feet in elevation gain. A good amount of elevation gain makes us understand why we were feeling the drag half way through. We made it, we did it. See you next week Watson Lake!

We will proudly be sending a check to the Truckee Trails Foundation in celebration of another section completed! Thank you Truckee Trails for your continued effort in keeping our community connected by trails, creating trails and maintaining the what we have already in place. We love our trails! Keep up the good work.

Truckeetrails.org

Next week we will be running in honor of Max Krieg who lost his life at the age of 5 following a short illness in December 2010. Max and his family are very dear to us and to the Truckee/Tahoe community. There is never a day we don't think about him-his sense of humor, funny costumes, and sweet spirit. In his honor by request of his family, we will be donating to Excellence in Education. Max's mother Martha Krieg, will be running with us as will the Executive Director of Excellence in Education, Laura Brown. We are looking forward to sharing this beautiful trail and run with Martha and Laura while (always) remembering a very special 5 year old Max who is with us in our hearts every day. We miss you Max.

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about"